Pope Francis apologizes for sins during colonial conquest

Each statue is progressively degraded and broken, and less recognizable as a man. On the top step, there simply stands a pair of damaged feet: humanism has triumphed; humanity has been destroyed.

Pope Francis explained that the logic of materialism means dismissing those people who are unable to produce, often seeing them as unworthy and incapable. “They beautified the city”. Module 5 houses the infirm, most with tuberculosis.

Alcohol sales and musical performances have been banned throughout the country during the pope’s visit, and 17,000 police and soldiers have been deployed. Rather, he said, he assumed Francis would be shown a Catholic church-run building where destitute prisoners at least get a place to sleep.

The pope started the day in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he listened on as inmates told their stories of how they ended up at Palmasola and of the “judicial terrorism” that lets the wealthy bribe their way to freedom while the poor languish in squalor.

All three of the countries Francis is visiting during this tour – Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay – are predominantly Catholic and have been marked by a long history of poverty and inequality mostly afflicting indigenous populations.

Later, Francis addressed a meeting of grassroots groups.

He noted the context in which Espinal was living: as a priest working for social justice in Bolivia during a period of instability that preceded a right-wing dictatorship known for human rights abuses.

The Bolivian government insisted the gift wasn’t a political manoeuvre of any sort, but was a symbol that Morales thought the “pope of the poor” would appreciate. Francis’ apology was specific and made on Bolivian soil. Ten of thousands Argentines from the northern provinces also attended.

Health Minister Antonio Barrios says the area is a natural habitat for the reptiles.

Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass in this same place in 1988 under torrential rains.

Pope Francis was on board to La Paz, Bolivia when he asked for the brew. As you ascend the steps and the dates near the present, you encounter six bronze men in increasing states of decay.

The Rev. Robert Gahl, a moral theologian at Pontifical Holy Cross University in Rome, said it all boils down to Espinal’s intent in designing the cross and Morales’ intent in giving it to the pope.

A Vatican investigation found Karadima guilty in 2011 and sentenced the now 84-year-old priest to a cloistered life of “penitence and prayer”.

Francis has impressed people with his stamina as he walked amid crowds, kissed people and took selfies.

He also said that Bolivia is at a “historic crossroads” and urged political, religious and cultural leaders to work together.

One inmate told of witnessing the murder of a fellow inmate. That was a real concern for Francis, who has had part of one lung removed as a child due to an infection.

Bolivia’s 32 prisons are built for 5,061 prisoners and hold almost three times as many.

The current global finance system is “intolerable”, he said. That economy kills. That economy excludes.

One asked for “dignified nutrition” for starters.

“Welcome Pope Francis, thank you for choosing the restaurant BK El Cristo as your sacristy”.

Hundreds of thousands have packed into Christ the Redeemer square and the streets beyond. A relatively subdued reaction in Israel reflected the new reality, though Hamas is likely to push for a new round of prisoner releases by Israel before it returns the two men.

The Vatican spokesman is the Rev. Federico Lombardi, and he said Thursday the pope had no idea that Espinal had designed such a crucifix.

Francis said: “A memorable life needs (the participation) of others”. But the pontiff’s reaction earlier this week when Bolivia’s president gave him a crucifix in the shape of a communist hammer and sickle is open to interpretation.